ianstone
05-19-2010, 08:23 PM
Pakistani who 'killed husband' in 20ft Kashmir fireball gets £1,300-a-month benefits in Britain
[/URL]
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-0-09A840D5000005DC-716_233x558.jpg Wanted: Bushra Ferozdin Butt allegedly poured kerosene over her husband
A Pakistani woman facing a murder charge in her home country after allegedly setting her husband alight is living in Britain and receiving more than £1,300 a month in benefits.
Bushra Ferozdin Butt, 35, spent ten months in custody when she was accused of pouring kerosene over Amjad Hussain, 36, who died in hospital nearly two weeks later.
She was eventually bailed by a judge and travelled to Luton, where she had previously lived with her husband for nine years.
Although not a British citizen, she has indefinite leave to remain, which entitles her to £330.70 a week in council tax and housing benefit - equivalent to a worker earning an annual salary of £22,000 before tax and National Insurance.
She arrived in late September last year, meaning she has already received £11,243.80.
Butt, who denies murder and insists her husband's clothes accidentally caught fire, claims she was given permission to leave Pakistan.
But the lawyer representing her husband's family said she fled to the UK and would forfeit her bail bond.
He is currently working with the British authorities to arrange an extradition order so that she can face a trial.
Speaking in faltering English at the one-bedroom flat she rents from a private landlord, Butt said yesterday: 'I do not work because I have depression.
'I try not to think about things too much but I am very worried I will have to go back to Pakistan. Somebody told me I killed my husband but it was a fire accident.
'I go to the bank every two weeks and get my benefits. It is all very good. I like this country very much. It is better here than Pakistan. I get benefit for housing and my illness.
'It was very hard when I was in prison. I will go back there but I am scared of facing trial. The judge bailed me and said I could return to England.'
Butt and her husband were both born in Pakistan, where she worked as a government health visitor, and married there in 1999.
Shortly afterwards she obtained UK residency and the couple, who never had children, moved to Luton.
They moved back to Roli, in the Kotli district of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan, in June 2008. Her husband died the following month.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-0-09A84284000005DC-881_468x286.jpg Home: The above-shop flat in Luton where Butt, who skipped bail, now lives
Prosecutors accuse Butt of severing her husband's Achilles tendon before setting him on fire.
Witnesses, who saw him staggering out of his home engulfed in 20ft flames, claim she 'giggled' while telling her mother-in-law: 'Don't worry. He won't die.'
Mr Hussain suffered 90 per cent burns and died in hospital 13 days later after telling police his wife - who has used the name Bushra Din since his death - had attacked him.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, criticised the generous benefits package Butt is receiving.
'If she has broken the conditions of her bail in another country then taxpayers will resent forking out to support her staying here,' he said.
A representative of Mr Hussain's Pakistan-based family said they were furious she had been able to leave the country.
'Justice has not been done. We must get it,' he said.
Their lawyer, Mirza Abdul Aziz Ratalvi(CORR), added: 'She misused the bail and flew abroad. Now she is settled in England. The bail bond is going to be forfeit. We're trying to bring her back.'
The UK Border Agency yesterday said Butt's name did not appear on any international watch list barring her from flying to other countries.
The Department of Work and Pensions added it was up to Butt's local authority to decide whether she was eligible for benefits.
A Luton Borough Council spokeswoman said she was 'a legal resident in the United Kingdom and is thus allowed to claim benefits.'
Read more: [URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html#ixzz0oQNIIBNW"]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html#ixzz0oQNIIBNW (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html)
Burnt alive and then we give £1300 a month in benefits, to live in luxury
[/URL]
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-0-09A840D5000005DC-716_233x558.jpg Wanted: Bushra Ferozdin Butt allegedly poured kerosene over her husband
A Pakistani woman facing a murder charge in her home country after allegedly setting her husband alight is living in Britain and receiving more than £1,300 a month in benefits.
Bushra Ferozdin Butt, 35, spent ten months in custody when she was accused of pouring kerosene over Amjad Hussain, 36, who died in hospital nearly two weeks later.
She was eventually bailed by a judge and travelled to Luton, where she had previously lived with her husband for nine years.
Although not a British citizen, she has indefinite leave to remain, which entitles her to £330.70 a week in council tax and housing benefit - equivalent to a worker earning an annual salary of £22,000 before tax and National Insurance.
She arrived in late September last year, meaning she has already received £11,243.80.
Butt, who denies murder and insists her husband's clothes accidentally caught fire, claims she was given permission to leave Pakistan.
But the lawyer representing her husband's family said she fled to the UK and would forfeit her bail bond.
He is currently working with the British authorities to arrange an extradition order so that she can face a trial.
Speaking in faltering English at the one-bedroom flat she rents from a private landlord, Butt said yesterday: 'I do not work because I have depression.
'I try not to think about things too much but I am very worried I will have to go back to Pakistan. Somebody told me I killed my husband but it was a fire accident.
'I go to the bank every two weeks and get my benefits. It is all very good. I like this country very much. It is better here than Pakistan. I get benefit for housing and my illness.
'It was very hard when I was in prison. I will go back there but I am scared of facing trial. The judge bailed me and said I could return to England.'
Butt and her husband were both born in Pakistan, where she worked as a government health visitor, and married there in 1999.
Shortly afterwards she obtained UK residency and the couple, who never had children, moved to Luton.
They moved back to Roli, in the Kotli district of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan, in June 2008. Her husband died the following month.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-0-09A84284000005DC-881_468x286.jpg Home: The above-shop flat in Luton where Butt, who skipped bail, now lives
Prosecutors accuse Butt of severing her husband's Achilles tendon before setting him on fire.
Witnesses, who saw him staggering out of his home engulfed in 20ft flames, claim she 'giggled' while telling her mother-in-law: 'Don't worry. He won't die.'
Mr Hussain suffered 90 per cent burns and died in hospital 13 days later after telling police his wife - who has used the name Bushra Din since his death - had attacked him.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, criticised the generous benefits package Butt is receiving.
'If she has broken the conditions of her bail in another country then taxpayers will resent forking out to support her staying here,' he said.
A representative of Mr Hussain's Pakistan-based family said they were furious she had been able to leave the country.
'Justice has not been done. We must get it,' he said.
Their lawyer, Mirza Abdul Aziz Ratalvi(CORR), added: 'She misused the bail and flew abroad. Now she is settled in England. The bail bond is going to be forfeit. We're trying to bring her back.'
The UK Border Agency yesterday said Butt's name did not appear on any international watch list barring her from flying to other countries.
The Department of Work and Pensions added it was up to Butt's local authority to decide whether she was eligible for benefits.
A Luton Borough Council spokeswoman said she was 'a legal resident in the United Kingdom and is thus allowed to claim benefits.'
Read more: [URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html#ixzz0oQNIIBNW"]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html#ixzz0oQNIIBNW (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279713/Pakistani-killed-husband-20ft-Kashmir-fireball-gets-1-300-month-benefits-Britain.html)
Burnt alive and then we give £1300 a month in benefits, to live in luxury